Joe Weatherley Signs New Hampshire Deal Through 2028
Hampshire opener Joe Weatherley has signed a new contract that keeps him at the club until the end of the 2028 season, BBC Sport reported.
It is a fitting deal for a player with a strong claim to be one of the county's most dependable run-makers in short-form cricket. Weatherley was the leading run-scorer in last season's T20 Blast, the domestic competition where each side plays a single innings of 20 overs. He made 591 runs at an average just under 50, meaning he was dismissed for roughly one run less than 50 per innings on average.
His biggest nights came at Edgbaston Finals Day. He scored an unbeaten 88 in the semi-final against Notts Outlaws, then made 75 in the final against Northamptonshire Steelbacks. He became the first player to score two fifties at a T20 Blast Finals Day, according to the BBC. Those innings were not enough to win the trophy for his side on that occasion, but they put his name in the record book.
Weatherley's career with Hampshire started in 2016. He has now played 211 matches for the club across all formats, and he is the county's third-highest run-scorer in T20 cricket with 2,741 runs. Only James Vince and Michael Carberry have scored more for Hampshire in that format.
He has also won silverware with the club. He was part of the side that lifted the Royal London Cup in 2018 and the Vitality Blast in 2022.
Outside Hampshire, he was a late call-up to the Birmingham Phoenix squad in last summer's Hundred, the 100-ball competition. He came in as a replacement for the injured Jacob Bethell.
Hampshire is also his boyhood club. Born in Winchester on 19 January 1997, Weatherley bats right-handed and bowls right-arm offbreak, a type of spin bowling where the ball turns from leg to off side. He is not a regular bowler, though, and his value to the side has been built mainly on his batting.
The contract means a player who grew up around the county will stay part of its plans through to the end of 2028. For a batter whose returns have been so steady in the shortest format, that continuity may matter as much to supporters as any single innings.
